This course is an introduction to the study of Shakespeare by looking at a selection of his plays and their reception around the world in the twentieth century. In the heyday of British imperialism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Shakespeare was frequently touted as an essentially British author whose works expressed a distinctive British concept of civilization and cultural superiority. With the decline of Britain's imperial legacy in the twentieth century, Shakespeare's Britishness has now become less pronounced; instead, in an increasingly globalized cultural market, his dominant image is of a world author. In this course, beginning with a close study of the art and craft of a number of Shakespeare's plays, we will examine the various ways in which they have been appropriated for the screen both within and outside Anglophone cultures.Students will be invited to form critically informed views as to whether Shakespeare has become a universalizing force through which the values of Western dominant cultures might be imposed on peripheral ones, or whether his reception around the world marks a truly creative and radical encounter between different cultural traditions. Students will be asked to view videotapes of film
adaptations of each play outside class, and class meetings will include analysis and discussion of clips from them. Requirements: participation in class discussions, group presentations, a series of quizzes, one short paper (3-4 pages) and one longer paper (8-10 pages).

Texts:

• Shakespeare. Hamlet. Arden Edition.
• Shakespeare. Tempest. Arden Edition.
• Shakespeare. Macbeth. Arden Edition.
• Shakespeare. King Lear. Arden Edition.
• Shakespeare. Richard III. Arden Edition.

A Course Pack.